Mast gate on Kemp/Selden mast

[eddystone]

I have a Kemp/Selden mast with a 505-505-01 mast gate with nibs. I currently have an old westaway fully battened main with a mixture of slides and Rutgerson cars on the batten ends which seem to be able to negotiate the nibs, but the new and as yet unused main (sanders) has all selden OWS cars which won't. I've tried filing the nibs off but to file them flat would remove the material which retains the top of the tongue. Although the product images online show the current 505-505-01 with nibs, I'm told they in fact don't have them, but in any case the 505-516-01 is a better choice for fully battened sails - I'm not entirely sure I understand why but a new mast gate looks necessary anyway. At first glance I thought the current one was secured with an allen bolt but in fact it's a rivet conveniently located at the base of the luff groove. So I can get a drill in to the luff groove to drill it out but how on earth do you get a rivet gunhead in there to fit a new 501? Apparently for the 516 you have to drill new holes in the mast as it's secured with screws so provided they provide a template that ought to be easier.

Any advice on this?

 

[eddystone]

photo attached

 

[Daydream believer]

slide a short piece of tube along the rivet first so the rivet gun is further up the rivet wire. A piece of small bore copper pipe- (or brake pipe off the wife's car would do two jobs in one go)

 

[Quandary]

I changed from a bolt rope luff to a slider on our Sigma, which involved a change of gate, I think that one of them is lurking in one of the boxes of 'too expensive to throw away' stuff somewhere in my garage, trouble is I am not sure which one it is, if you think it might be worth my while hunting it out you would be welcome to it.

 

[eddystone]

slide a short piece of tube along the rivet first so the rivet gun is further up the rivet wire. A piece of small bore copper pipe- (or brake pipe off the wife's car would do two jobs in one go)

I hope your wife doesn't read this forum!

However, I don't see how that works because I thought the rivet gun needed to grasp the pin from the bottom in order to compress the rivet body?

 

[eddystone]

I changed from a bolt rope luff to a slider on our Sigma, which involved a change of gate, I think that one of them is lurking in one of the boxes of 'too expensive to throw away' stuff somewhere in my garage, trouble is I am not sure which one it is, if you think it might be worth my while hunting it out you would be welcome to it.

thanks very much but I think what i need is the latest pattern of gate or cassette

 

[MoodySabre]

I had to get a new mast gate when I got a FB Crusader main with Sailman 3000 cars. The old one was a sprung gate but the new one has to be removed to get the sails on and off. It is held in place by set screws top and bottom, the holes for which had to be tapped. Very easy to drop the screw into oblivion inside the mast but easy enough to make another one.

 

[BabaYaga]

If you go for the 505-516-01, the template for drilling is included in the item itself.
You just put it in place, drill the holes, tap them and then turn the fitting up side down.
Unlike normal mast gates, this fitting needs to be removed every time the sail is taken off the mast.
Beware these come in two sizes, your number indicating the larger one.

 

[eddystone]

I had to get a new mast gate when I got a FB Crusader main with Sailman 3000 cars. The old one was a sprung gate but the new one has to be removed to get the sails on and off. It is held in place by set screws top and bottom, the holes for which had to be tapped. Very easy to drop the screw into oblivion inside the mast but easy enough to make another one.

I think I may go for that although its more expensive - looks easier to drill a couple of holes (provided i don't catch a cable in the channel behind) than get a rivet gun where it doesn't want to go.

Do you put chromate paste on the screws every time you re-insert?

 

[Daydream believer]

I hope your wife doesn't read this forum!

However, I don't see how that works because I thought the rivet gun needed to grasp the pin from the bottom in order to compress the rivet body?

What should happen is that the pipe sits against the rivet. The tool grips the wire of the rivet further up the wire & pushes against the other end of the pipe applying pressure to the rivet. I have had a scissor type set of tongs for many years & did have an extension jaw that did a similar sort of job. The extension jaw being very thin so it could be used in tight corners. When we lost it we used a few small nuts threaded on the rivet in an emergency to do the job.
But a short length of pipe will do it if it is not too large diameter. I expect that you could also drill a hole through a bit of dowel & possibly do one rivet using that if you placed a small washer against each end first to stop the wood spreading if the wife has already taken the car- along with the kids, the dog, the house & the money

 

[MoodySabre]

I think I may go for that although its more expensive - looks easier to drill a couple of holes (provided i don't catch a cable in the channel behind) than get a rivet gun where it doesn't want to go.

Do you put chromate paste on the screws every time you re-insert?

The cables run in a conduit to the side of the sail track. Never thought about paste - been alright so far every couple of years.

 

[stuartwineberg]

I am just buying a fb main from Sanders and they have told me I need a mast blank to replace the existing fitting. Worth giving Peter Sanders a call, he is extremely helpful

 

[eddystone]

I am just buying a fb main from Sanders and they have told me I need a mast blank to replace the existing fitting. Worth giving Peter Sanders a call, he is extremely helpful

It was Peter who demonstrated to me the need for a new gate as he tried out an OWS car on the existing one when measuring up; my issue is not about what hardware to fit, but how to fit it; I'm going to Allspars in Swanwick tomorrow with my rivet gun to look at both options and maybe get some further advice.

 

[eddystone]

Just to round off this thread, I picked up a replacement "nibless" mast gate from Allspars in Swanwick and at last understood that the tongue just comes out with a bit of manipulation, leaving plenty of room to remove/replace the rivets - I had thought the rivet secured the tongue!

However, the lack of nibs forces the top of the tongue further in so it does not sit flush under spring pressure. Therefore decided that is not a good solution and I will be swapping it for the newer removeable design (505-516-01).